Television Talk
Project Title: Comparative Article
Project Type: Copywriting for Print Marketing
*Spoiler Alert: This article contains potential spoilers about the popular CBS show Scorpion*
Television and movie protagonists often employ catchphrases that can be identified by the fourth wall viewers. These different speech patterns usually work as an anchor to build the audience’s familiarity with the characters. For this article, we will be discussing particular language variations from CBS Production’s television series Scorpion, in comparison to specific language tools defined in Linguistics written by Akmajian, Farmer, and Bickmore. The basic premise of Scorpion follows a team of four adults with genius-level IQs, one genius child, one special agent, and one relations specialist as they navigate the world and help Homeland Security solve cases that were thought to be unsolvable (1). Right off the bat, viewers are introduced to several facts that will help them better comprehend the lifestyle of the main characters. The first is a comparison of EQ and IQ. Intelligence Quotient, commonly abbreviated as IQ, refers to an individual’s mental age, as determined by a series of standardized tests (3). Emotional Quotient, often referred to as Emotional Intelligence and abbreviated as EQ, is based on a measure of interpersonal and communication skills (2). Throughout the television series, viewers can see the different types of communicative interactions that the main cast faces as they attempt to understand each team member’s perspective.
According to Scorpion, as well as being commonly stated in various scientific journals, well-known genius Albert Einstein was estimated to hold an IQ of approximately 160. However, as the physicist was never actually tested by today’s standards, this is considered by some scientists to be mere speculation. Regardless, this numerical spectrum allows the audience further insight into Scorpion’s main protagonist, Walter O’Brien, whose IQ was recorded as 197. While O’Brien has an exceptionally high IQ, he also has an exceptionally low EQ—an individual’s IQ is thought to be balanced by that individual’s EQ. This concept is true for two of the other adults with genius-level IQs on the team, with the exception being one member who has an abnormally high EQ along with a particularly high IQ (1). This type of intellect brings a multitude of communicative strains onto the team, which can be highlighted by the definitions and diagrams of linguistic meaning versus speaker meaning, as presented in Linguistics. To offer a basic definition of each, linguistic meaning refers to the contextual understanding of the language itself, whereas, speaker meaning determines the understanding of the context based on whether or not the intent is literal or non-literal (5). Once we grasp the primary components of meaning, we can step further into the application of meaning through both the Message Model and Inferential Model that are utilized in everyday speech patterns. These models map out the method of communicative tactics between the speaker and the recipient. To summarize, the Message Model relies primarily on direct communication—the recipient believes the speaker’s words to be contextually appropriate, as in taken literally. Contrarily, the Inferential Model is capable of allowing both direct and indirect communication, so the intent can be literal or non-literal. This relies on the idea of linguistic presumption—the recipient is capable of determining the speaker’s intent based on context (4).
Putting all of those definitions into a realistic communicative application, Scorpion shows viewers various instances of simple and difficult communication between the team members, as well as the rest of society. For example, the four adult geniuses often state that “humans,” in this case anyone without a genius-level IQ, frequently lie while speaking—this is because they do not speak in a manner composed solely of factual evidence. On one occasion, O’Brien corrected a potential client who said that the team’s pay for their case would be “One hundred and nine thousand dollars” (1). Factually, the usage of the word and implies the amount to be $9,100. O’Brien claimed that the amount would be well below their normal consultation fee and would not be accepted. However, the speaker had been utilizing speaker meaning through the Inferential Model. They had presumed that O’Brien would understand that they had meant for the amount to be $109,000 (1). For the four adult geniuses, this disconnect of communicative understanding reinforced the idea that people who did not meet their intellect level, were not to be trusted as they were more prone to lying.
Linguistics also introduces readers to the concept of satisfaction conditions, which can be broken down into three main branches. Truth conditions refer to the factors which would make the context of the sentence true. Answerhood conditions involve the interrogatives that can be applied to the sentence, while compliance conditions are based on the imperatives. Those three conditions, when analyzed together, combine to form the satisfaction condition of the sentence (4). This was showcased rather humorously in Scorpion during the moments when the four genius adult team members attempt to understand the sarcasm of a conversation with non-genius team members. The adult geniuses start the series by communicating very directly and often seem confused when someone speaks to them in an indirect, or non-literal, manner. As they spend more time with the members of their team who do not hold a genius-level IQ, they begin to comprehend the balance of satisfaction conditions more and more. Each genius stops to consider the speaker’s intent by questioning the truth conditions of the sentence—can the context of this message be appropriately assumed as literal? Then they move onto the answerhood conditions—can a suitable answer be formed to close the gap of communication? Lastly, they analyze the compliance conditions—do the demands coincide with feasibility (5)? That, of course, works to define each conditional branch in the simplest manner possible. Several theses have been written delving into far more detail. However, for this article, a generalized idea of each is all that is needed to offer insight into the main characters of Scorpion.
By the end of the series, Scorpion’s geniuses learn to better relate to the world around them as they evaluate sentence intent to navigate the message of the communication received. Two of the adult geniuses were able to perceive the theory of love as more than just a chemical reaction of endorphins. Likewise, all four of the adult geniuses began to notice when someone was speaking to them sarcastically—while still confirming out loud with each other to be certain (1). When watching this series, viewers ought to consider the communicative methods defined in Linguistics, in order to better enjoy the show and understand the reality of the main characters. Every group, regardless of the challenges that they might face in terms of accepting one another, eventually will form speech patterns that differentiate them from surrounding groups. Mastering the art of language is a fundamental aspect of connecting those groups. Communication, whether direct or indirect, can shape the society around us and the perception that we, the speakers and recipients, take on as our own.
Resources
“About Scorpion - Primetime TV Show Information.” Edited by CBS Interactive, CBS, CBS Entertainment, 2020, www.cbs.com/shows/scorpion/about/.
“EQ: Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Edited by Cambridge University Press, EQ | Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary, 2020, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/eq.
“IQ: Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Edited by Cambridge University Press, IQ | Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary, 2020, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/iq.
“Pragmatics: The Study of Language Use and Communication.” Linguistics an Introduction to Language and Communication, by Adrian Akmajian et al., The MIT Press, 2017, pp. 349–387.
“Semantics: The Study of Linguistic Meaning.” Linguistics an Introduction to Language and Communication, by Adrian Akmajian et al., The MIT Press, 2017, pp. 215–248.